Set with more than a week of practice after a tough start in head-to-head play, the Blue Devils needed to get in the win column in a trip across the country.
Traveling close to the birthplace of the double Finesilver twins, Duke did just that.
The Blue Devils emerged undefeated from their journey to Colorado Sunday, defeating both Cal State Bakersfield and Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., by scores of 25-17 and 19-18, respectively. The Finesilver quartet went 7-1, and Duke staged a comeback behind a dominant performance from redshirt senior Jacob Kasper to upend the Bears.
“I felt like the guys stepped it up well. We had a little break, we’ve been getting focused on getting attacks on the feet, and I thought our guys really did that well this weekend,” Blue Devil coach Glen Lanham said. “[At] the end, our guys wrestled tough.”
Against Northern Colorado, Duke was facing a 14-6 deficit at the halfway mark of the contest when two upperclassmen stepped up. First, redshirt junior Alec Schenk eked out a tough 7-5 victory at 197 pounds before No. 5 Kasper came in and dominated Robert Winters to bring the margin to just one.
Then, senior Thayer Atkins had a battle representative of the entire victory, battling back from a tough start to secure a 9-5 win, giving the Blue Devils a lead they never relinquished. Freshman Josh Finesilver and classmate Jeremiah Reitz did just enough to hold on for Duke to emerge with its second victory of the afternoon.
“Whether it’s a technical fall or a pin, I felt like Jacob was going to get in there and get the ball rolling,” Lanham said. “We definitely were coming into the meat of our lineup, and I was pretty comfortable that we were going to make a good run.”
Against the Roadrunners, the Blue Devils had the opposite experience. A hot start highlighted by a pair of falls from junior Brandon Leynaud and Zach Finesilver helped Duke get off to an 18-0 lead. No. 11 Mitch Finesilver also scored his first top-20 victory of the year in the midst of the run against No. 17 Coleman Hammod 11-5.
Cal State Bakersfield grabbed a pair of victories—one on a fall—to cut the Blue Devils’ lead in half before Kasper stepped in, once again. He increased his team-leading total in victories against Mark Penyascek before the Roadrunners won two of the last three matches.
All four of the Finesilvers, who hail from Greenwood Village, Colo., impressed the crowd against Cal State Bakersfield, as Josh’s 8-4 decision against Sean Nickell was the closest match of the four.
“We definitely scheduled it like that,” Lanham said. “It’s to get them back and let their parents see them, and we wanted to get close and make sure they had the opportunity to see their sons wrestle.”
Matt battled back from an injury that forced Duke to forfeit the bouts at 174 pounds in Chapel Hill, and went 2-0 on the afternoon, winning 14 of the 17 points awarded.
The Blue Devils will have little time to rest in preparation for their first conference match against No. 5 N.C. State Friday. The Wolfpack have dropped just one contest this season, which was to third-ranked Oklahoma State their last time on the mats.
Duke will also be wrestling at home at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time of the season.
“We’re looking at these guys knowing that they’re going to be tough,” Lanham said. “Our guys are not going to lay down. We’ve always wrestled them hard, and I feel like there are some matches that are toss-up matches, there are some that favor them and some that favor us. [It’s] going to be a big task to go out there and beat these guys, but that’s why you go out there and do it.”
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